T-Barb, Spanner Barb

The T-Barb is a very active, yet peaceful schoolfish. They are rarely to be seen in german fish stores. Like all barbs, they are hungry all the time, and I have lots of fun watching them play "rugby" with food tablets. I keep 5 Lateristrigas in a 220 litre community tank together with some Gold and Cardinal Tetras, Zebra Danios and several catfish-species (water conditions: pH 6,7 / 25°C). The T-barbs have never been aggressive against the other fishes.

I have only had fish for about 3 months, but inherited a 5 year old T-barb. Later we gained a younger one who was so active he was upsetting the smaller tank belonging to my daughter. Our older barb did not take kindly to the younger barb, but has settled down after harassing the poor younger one for a week or two. We have the barbs in a 240 litre tank. Fortunately, the tank has plenty of plants and hidey-holes for refuge. The T-Barb is definitely an aggressive hunter towards smaller fish, careful who you put them with!

I keep 5 T-barbs in a 576 liter tank, together with 7 Thailand Tinfoils. I feed them lettuce, peas and frozen food and I have to say they are very colorful; more colorful than I've seen in any picture. The head is copper green and the upper part of the T is yellow with a red network on it. They are very playful and friendly to my other fish.

I have a pair of wild T-Barbs about 8 cm long and others that my son and I netted from the stream at my grandpa's hometown, Johor - Malaysia. When I was a child, there were a lot of this species and other beautiful tropical fish that are not seen on the internet. Now I have been breeding this tropical fish, but it is very hard. The spawning tank (75 liters) should be decorated with some broad leaved plants, subdued lighting, a thin layer of river stone/sand at the bottom as per wild life home and, important, it should be a quiet area. They should spawn within a week.

I have had my spanner barb since 1997. The fish is still doing very well and has reached almost 15 cm in length. I have had my T-barb in different sizes of tanks over the past years and it never had a problem adapting to a new environment. He must be a lot happier now, as I have put him in a 450 L tank with my red hook silver dollars, bala sharks, and tinfoil barbs. They all live in harmony and never cause a fight in the tank. My spanner barb is always hungry and would eat anything if I threw it into the tank. I wonder how long can this fish live up to...mine is turning 9 years old and is still going strong. This fish has gone over good and bad times of my life over the past 9 years. Many things have changed but the fish remains as beautiful and strong as ever.

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